Friday, May 12, 2006

Work Berserk? Pray Away!

It's not unusual, in this day in age, for people to pull numerous all-nighters per week just to make sure they get their work done. In fact, I myself pulled two all-nighters last week to make sure I met a deadline. Although for me this is an unusual occurrence, with the technology we have, we are able to do more in smaller amounts of time than we would have been able to do before. This, however, causes us to believe that, if we'd just grit our teeth and work a little harder, we could get even more done.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed and unappreciated with the amount of work many of us have. In fact, sometimes, in order to feel respected, we compete with others by comparing the amount of work we've completed in the little amount of time we've been given. However, I assure you, although we think we are busy, the amount of work we have is child's play compared to the amount of work that was given to Christ (Check out what Jesus says in Luke 5:23; there are way more sinners than righteous people! He was a busy man!).

Even though Jesus was constantly called upon by many and there was plenty of work to be done, the Bible says in Luke 5:16 that He "often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." You see, Jesus knew the importance of getting away from the troubles of this world by going to places of solitude and communicating with God. Jesus was showing us that, no matter how busy we think we are, we're never too busy to put God first.

God is aware of everything that takes place (Matthew 10:29-30, Psalm 139:1-16) and He knows that we can become stressed with what we have going on. In fact, the Bible tells us that God knows what we need even before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8)! God’s been gracious enough to provide for us 24 hours in a day. The least we can do is make time to communicate with Him and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Are you spending too much time on worldly things and not enough time with the Creator? Has your life become a hypnotizing schedule of work then sleep, work then sleep? Be mindful that God is the maker of time and provides for those who call upon His name. Get in a habit of taking time out of your day to go away by yourself to talk with God (Matthew 6:6). By doing so, not only will you find refuge through His love from everyday strain, God will reveal to you where He wants you to be (Psalm 32:8).